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25th Week in Ordinary Time

Date:

Mon, 09/25/2017

Author:

Rev. Msgr. Donald Enzweiler

“Truth is the mind’s conformity with reality.”
I came across this statement as I was reading the other day.
And as a person interested in what the truth is,
especially in light of my experience of God as mystery
and my choice to embrace a priestly vocation,
I took the time to put this statement in my collection of quotes
under the category of “worthy of ongoing reflection”.
Some people collect nick-knacks, some people collect books,
some people collect memories,
some people collect nothing but dust (by their inactivity)….
I collect words and phrases that have the potential of increasing understanding.

“Truth is the mind’s conformity with reality.”
The author of this statement is on to something that makes sense to me.

With this being said, I embrace, as I hope all of you do….I embrace a Christian approach to life.
The person of Jesus Christ is at the center of such an approach.
I accept him as the way, the truth and the life.
I believe that He is the truth that sets me free.
He is the reality to which I adhere, to which I desire to conform my mind.
And not just my mind, my heart, my soul, my conduct and behavior as well.
I want my understanding, my desires, my wants, my will…
I want my faith, my hope, my purpose, my choices to be in conformity with Christ.

I’ve told this story previously: once when I was on vacation, travelling through Nova Scotia,
a woman, a clerk in a small town grocery store, after a few moments of conversation,
asked me point blank “are you a Catholic priest?”
I was blown away. I wasn’t wearing anything that would remotely identify me as such…
and our conversation up to this point consisted of the weather, local places to visit and the like.
She said “you remind me of the priest at my church”.

When someone says “you remind me of someone else, someone I know, someone I’ve encountered before” it could mean “you remind me of something good”
or “you remind me of something I would rather forget.”

It happens every once in a while in Confession that someone says “I don’t see Christ in others.”
In part, anyway, seeing Christ in others is seeing their behavior, their attitudes, their love,
seeing their demeanor, their concerns, their pursuits….hearing their words
and saying to ourselves “this person reminds me of Jesus Christ.
They are doing what Jesus would do. They are saying what Jesus would say.”

Two questions come to my mind as I ponder today’s gospel about putting a light on a lampstand:
“do others see Christ in me?” and “do I see Christ in myself?”
These are definitely questions worthy of ongoing reflection.

Today’s prayer: “O Lord, You sent Your Son Jesus Christ to be a light in the darkness of this world. Help me to embrace this light in the center of my being. Fill me with a new desire to make sure that when others see me they are reminded of Him. Amen!”